The Freeway 1968 (高速公路1968) mobile phone application would allow people to check the number of vehicles or foot traffic at 234 tourist attractions nationwide during the International Workers’ Day holiday, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday.
Large crowds at some popular tourist attractions during the Tomb Sweeping Day long weekend raised concerns about the risk of COVID-19 transmissions, and sparked debate over whether the Workers’ Day holiday should be canceled.
Lin said that his ministry would comply with instructions from the Central Epidemic Command Center by launching the upgraded edition of Freeway 1968 today.
Photo: CNA
The tourist attractions covered include scenic spots, night markets, parks and shopping districts, he said, adding that traffic and crowd alerts for these areas would be available.
The crowd alert would be updated every 10 minutes using data collected by Chunghwa Telecom, Lin said.
A red alert would mean that the area is crowded, while yellow would mean that the crowd is slightly larger than normal, he said, adding that green would mean that the crowd size is normal.
The app is already available for download on iOS devices, while Android users would be able to download it before tomorrow, Lin said.
Regarding personal privacy issues, Lin said that telecoms would know the number of people in an area by monitoring the traffic on cell towers near it, as long as the people have their mobile phones turned on, adding that the method would not involve the use of personal data.
In other developments, Lin said that a new policy allowing airlines to carry cargo in the cabins of passenger jets would help airlines survive amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the past, if carriers wanted to transport cargo on passenger jets, they would have to place items in the baggage holds of the aircraft, he said.
The pandemic has caused many airlines to reduce passenger flights due to a sharp decline in travelers, but demand for cargo services is increasing, Lin said.
Since April 17, the Civil Aeronautics Administration has approved EVA Air’s requests to carry cargo in the passenger cabins of Boeing 777 and Boeing 787 aircraft, he added.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
RSS